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If you are a grammar nazi, then you must have a basic idea about how forming nouns from verbs can easily give you a new English vocabulary. Especially when this can simply be done by adding suffixes at the end of the word. However, you must note that only certain verbs can be changed to nouns depending on the context. Sometimes, using the noun form of the verb can prove to be jargon-heavy. Well, worry not as we have come up with all the latest information on how you can change a verb to a noun easily, just by following these rules. Go on, read this blog to understand this topic in detail.
This Blog Includes:
How to Form a Noun from Verbs?
Here are all the rules which will help you change a verb into a noun.
Add Suffix
- Add ‘-ance’ or ‘-ence’ to verbs
Most verbs can be changed to nouns by adding suffixes such as ‘-ance’ and ‘-ence’ at the end of the word.
For example: The verb ‘appear’ will change to ‘appearance’ and ‘resist’ will change to ‘resistance’.
- Add ‘-ment’ to verbs
There are other verbs where ‘-ment’ is supposed to be added at the end of the word.
For example: After adding ‘-ment’, verbs such as ‘assign’, ‘enjoy’ and ‘appoint’ will convert to ‘assignment’, ‘enjoyment’ and ‘appointment’ respectively.
- Add ‘-tion’ or ‘sion’
Finally, to make nouns into verbs, suffixes such as ‘-tion’ and ‘-sion’ need to be added at the end of the word. There are many verbs which can be converted using these suffixes.
For example: Verbs such as ‘inform’, ‘describe’ and ‘decide’ will convert to ‘information’, ‘description’ and ‘decision’ respectively.
Adjust the Sentence
- Locate the Verb
As you must know, a verb is an action word often used in sentences. If you want to adjust a sentence to change a verb to a noun, locate the verb and see if it can double as a noun.
For example: The film impacted the audience. Here the verb used is ‘impacted’.
- Add an appropriate determiner before the verb
A determiner is a word such as ‘a’ or ‘the’ which usually signifies that the following word will be a noun. So, to change a verb into a noun, you can simply add a determiner.
- Rewrite the sentence
Upon adding a determiner before a noun, you will have to slightly change the sentence. You might have to change the verb for it to become a noun. Finally, the sentence might need minor rearranging.
Avoid Common Mistakes
- Make use of a dictionary to double-check your suffixes
If you are not that fluent with the English vocabulary, then you can always get help from the dictionary. It will help you with the correct suffix and how you can convert verbs to nouns.
Examples of Forming Nouns from Verbs
Here are some examples of converting verbs to nouns. Check out the list.
| Verb | Noun |
| Think | Thought |
| Act | Act |
| Write | Writing |
| Read | Reading |
| Sleep | Sleep |
| Eat | Eat |
| Learn | Learning |
| Walk | Walking |
| Swim | Swimming |
| Talk | Talking |
| Run | Running |
| Dance | Dancing |
Exercise 1: Convert Into Nouns from Verbs
Convert the following words into nouns from verbs by adding the correct suffix.
- Run
- Swim
- Dream
- Eat
- Dance
- Write
- Act
- Jump
- Sleep
Exercise 2: Noun Formation
Make a noun from the noun in the brackets.
- The water-fuelled car was his greatest _______. (Achieve)
- The final ____ took 10 hours to conclude. (Agree)
- The _____ on their faces was worthy of a photograph. (Amaze)
- The managing ______ of the pharmaceutical company was sent to prison for bribing medical staff. (Direct)
- Thanks to mobile phones, emergency services come to people’s _____ much faster nowadays. (Assist)
Check Your Answers:
- Achievement
- Agreement
- Amazement
- Director
- Assistance
Check Related Blogs!
| Nouns | Verbs |
| What are Nouns? Check Definition | Verb Preposition with Meaning |
| 8 Types of Nouns You Must Know | All about Regular and Irregular Verbs |
FAQs
Some examples of forming nouns from verbs include run which becomes runner (when converted to a noun), lie becomes liar (when converted to a noun), and decide becomes decision (upon converting to a noun).
To create a noun from a verb, you can begin by adding suffixes at the end of the word.
A forming noun comes from other parts of the speech. They most commonly come from a verb or an adjective.
To change a verb into a noun, you typically add a suffix like -tion, -ment, -ance, -ing, or -er to the verb. This process is called nominalization.
Here are some examples:
-tion:
Act (verb) → Action (noun)
-ment:
Develop (verb) → Development (noun)
-ance / -ence:
Perform (verb) → Performance (noun)
-ing (gerund):
Run (verb) → Running (noun)
-er / -or (agent nouns):
Teach → Teacher
To form a noun from a word, you typically add suffixes like -tion, -ment, -ance, -ing, or -er to verbs or adjectives. For example, act becomes action, agree becomes agreement, and happy becomes happiness. The choice of suffix depends on the word’s form and meaning.
Here’s a list of verbs with their corresponding noun forms:
Act → Action
Agree → Agreement
Decide → Decision
Move → Movement
Create → Creation
Manage → Management
Inform → Information
Discuss → Discussion
Perform → Performance
Develop → Development
Educate → Education
Explain → Explanation
Invent → Invention
Achieve → Achievement
Describe → Description
We hope this blog on how forming nouns from verbs gave you all the insights about the same. To advance your grammar knowledge and read more informative blogs, check out our Learn English page and don’t forget to follow Leverage Edu.
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